Built in 1735 as part of the original redevelopment of the area by Edward Shepherd (after the original May fair was moved to Bow in 1686), Shepherds Tavern is a handsome feature in the Shepherd Market landscape. Inside, it's...

This cosy, back-street boozer cleverly pulls off the trick of acting like it's in a quiet part of town, while the reality is you can almost hear the buzz of Piccadilly Circus traffic from the bar. On our visit, we were...

This corner of Mayfair is beginning to resemble derelict parts of East London, what with all the (apparently) stalled construction projects in the area, not to mention the defunct petrol station two doors down from this once...

We were pretty scathing in a previous review of this place and were happy to hear that things had changed here since our last visit and we'd been invited to re-apprise our original assessment. It's taken a long time to get...

There are a one or two pubs in the West End that aren't the usual tourist traps, theme pubs or restaurants in disguise you get in these parts - they're just good, honest pubs that would be a delight for any discerning pubgoer...

The Red Lion is a fine old oak panelled pub hidden behind Carnaby Street. Despite a small frontage, it's deceptively large with three bars in total, including one upstairs. Our personal preference is for the tiny front bar...

A quirky Sam Smith's pub in the heart of the touristy bit of Soho. Some nice old features remain and give the pub an olde worlde atmosphere. It's larger than it looks from the outside, with a basement bar and space out the back...

A decent enough West End pub that caters for after work drinkers and tourists who've taken a wrong turning for Hamley's or Carnaby Street. Like many pubs in the area, it can get pretty heaving towards the end of the week so you...

Something a bit different for Soho - or indeed London - a dedicated Blues bar. There's live music most nights of the week (with the add-on of a late license) but if the Blues ain't your thing, it's still a handy one to meet up...

The Lyric (or 'The Lyric - Soho', as it's name helpfully informs the geographically bereft) was one of more characterful pubs in the area before it closed in 2006. Happily, however, it's recently re-opened and is - for want of...

The Mason's Arms is hard to miss - it's a glorious Tudorbethan facade, resplendent with hanging baskets in an otherwise nondescript terrace on a side street in Mayfair. Yet despite its visual prominence, the shoppers and...

A traditional looking pub, with loads of knickknacks hanging from the ceiling and pictures on the wall to impress the tourists - plenty of brewery mirrors in evidence, along with recruitment posters from the second World War...

If you go into a Nicholson's pub and don't find an opulent Victorian interior, you should be disappointed. But don't worry, you definitely won't be disappointed here - the fixtures and fittings are everything you would expect...

The Sun & Thirteen Cantons is a Fuller's pub that has described itself as a 'brasserie' in the past, but that's pushing things a bit - the food's mostly Thai and it looks every bit like a pub - although it is one of their...

Given the location, it should come as no surprise that the White Horse tends to be crowded with people from nearby offices, which means of course, primarily people from the agencies, production companies and facilities houses,...

One of three Sam Smiths pubs all within staggering distance from each other and sited opposite a 1929 art deco car park, the Duke of Argyll is a refreshingly normal pub of the kind slowly disappearing in the area. Not as twee...

Tucked away down a side street around the back of Piccadilly Circus, we can't say this pub's got a lot going for it beyond its relative obscurity. Drinkable beer combined with its isolated location means it's worth hunting down...

Any pub called the Shakespeare's Head in an area as touristy as Carnaby Street would just have to be an olde worlde building with leaded glass windows and true to form, this one is. It hasn't changed at all in recent years. The...

More theme park than pub, this cavernous, never-ending pub is truly enormous. Multi-storied and multi-roomed with two entrances, if you plan to meet someone here, you'll need GPS co-ordinates, or at least a compass. A...

For a pub so close to the tackfest that is the Trocadero Centre, this one makes a fair go at being a normal boozer. That a decent drop of Timothy Taylor Landlord can be had helps, as does the rather lived-in feel of the pub...